A major
tonality / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
A major (or the key of A) is a major scale with a base note of A. Its key signature has three sharps.
 | ||
| Relative key | F♯ minor | |
|---|---|---|
| Parallel key | A minor | |
| Dominant key | ||
| Subdominant | ||
| Notes in this scale | ||
| A, B, C♯, D, E, F♯, G♯, A | ||
Its relative minor is F-sharp minor. The key of A-major is the only key where a Neapolitan sixth chord on 
There are not as many symphonies in A major as in D major or G major, but more than other sharp keys. Beethoven's Symphony No. 7, Bruckner's Symphony No. 6 and Mendelssohn's Symphony No. 4 are almost all the symphonies in this key in the Romantic era. Mozart's Clarinet Concerto and Clarinet Quintet are both in A major. Mozart used clarinets in A major often.[1]
In chamber music, A major is used a lot. Johannes Brahms, César Franck, and Gabriel Fauré wrote violin sonatas in A major. Peter Cropper said that A major "is the fullest sounding key for the violin.", when he was talking about Beethoven's Kreutzer Sonata.[2]
According to Christian Friedrich Daniel Schubart, A major is a key that is good for "declarations of innocent love, ... hope of seeing one's beloved again when parting; youthful cheerfulness and trust in God."[3]
When music for orchestra is in A major, the timpani are normally set to A and E a fifth apart. In most other keys, they are set a fourth apart.